Hair clipper



Aug. 17, 1926. 1,596,295

N. E. NoRsTRoM HAIR CLIPPER .Filed Dec. 19, 1924 F/G 5 fg; @4404 @um Patented Aug. 17, 1926. i

UNITED STATES NILS E. NORSTBOM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HAIR CLIPPER.

Appiication med 'December 19, 1924. serial No. 757,057.

My invention relates to hair clippers, and has for its object improvements in devices of that kind. More particularly, my invention relates to the clipping blades, their construction, the connection for driving the movable blade, and an adjustment for one of the blades for purposes which will be hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings v Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a clipper intended to be operated by a magnet enclosed within the case;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of both blades, the same being on line 2-2 of Fig. 6.

Figa 3 is a similar section of the blades, but in different relationship to each other;

Figs. 4 and 5 are partial plans of the blades when they are are in the relationship to each other shown'in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a plan of the upper blade with its connecting spring;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the lower blade;

Fig. 8 is a partial view in the direction 8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is ing to Fig. use; and

an enlarged section (correspond- 2) of one size of blades now 1n Fig. 10 is a similar section of another sizey of blades now in use.

As a preliminary, I will vsay that there are now on the market four sizes of blades known, respectively, as No. 1, No 0, No. O0 and No 000. The size No. 000 is the one illustrated at enlarged scaley in Fig. 9, is very thin, and is for cutting hair very short. Fig. 10 is a similar section of Nd 0, which is thicker, and does not cut hair so close. No. OO is an intermediate size, and No. 1 lis thicker, thanthe one shown in Fig. 10. To meet requirements, barbers usually have to keep on hand a surplus of clippers, each with its own size of blade, and dealers have to carry a stock containing all sizes. As will be explained hereinafter, a single pair of blades, such as I showl in Fig. 2, is capable of all of the results produced by the four standard s izes now recognized in the trade. Making one size serve all of the purposes of four sizes is an ultimate object of the present invention.

In thesaid drawings, 11 is a case for containing a motor magnet, the armature of which is shown at 12. The magnet Amay be like that shown in my pending application,

Serial' Number 688,645, filed January 26, 1924, or like any other magnet used in this class of devices.

Mounted on a heel 13 on case 11 is a stationary clipper blade 14 heldin place by screws 15, and mounted upon the stationary blade is a movable blade 16. On the upper.

face of blade .16 is a spring 17 held in place by screws 18. This spring has the general shape of an ordinary Z-bar, but has proportions as shown in Fig. 2. The upper free part of the spring is not parallel to the part secured to the blade, but inclines outward as shown in Fig. 2. This ree part is notched at front and rear so as to leave a short bridge 19. The end of the armature lever 12 is notched at 20 to form a fork to receive the bridge 19 and hold the blade 16 from inward or outward movement. The

bottom of the notch 20 and the upper face of bridge 19 are not parallel with each other, with the result that the longitudinal thrust of the armature lever 12 comes on the outer edge of the bridge 19. This point of contact on the spring 17 is at approximately the center of the blade 16, and the longitudinal thrust on this point serves to hold blade 16 against blade 14 with a spring tension.

Secured on the upper face ofthe sprin 17, at each side of the bridge 19, are sti spring brackets 21 of the general shape shown in Figs. 1, 6 and '8. The distance between these brackets is such that when the notch 20 in the end of armature lever 12 is made to engage bridge 19, the brackets press with considerable force against opposite sides of the armature lever atpoints just above the notch 20. When the armature lever is vibrated to drive the movable blade 16, the driving action is from the lever thru these brackets to the blade 16. To facilitate the entry o the end of the armature lever between these brackets, the extreme end of the lever is tapered as shown in- Fig. 8.

The bottom of the blade 14 has longitudinal grooves cut therein as shown in Fig. 7 and as is common in the stationary blades of clippers. The ribs left by the cutting of these grooves match the teeth of the blades as shown.

The stationary blade is held in place byy screws 15 which pass thru slots 22 in blade 14. Around these slots are countersinks 23 for the heads of screws 15. As so constructed, the blade 14 is adjustable in or out under blade 16 to any position between that shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, the movable blade 24 of ordinary clippers is the same in different devices, but the. lower blade is varied to produce Avaried results. In Fig. 9, the under surface of blade 25 is made concave so that the thickness of the lower teeth 27 will be of substantially the same for a considerable length of tooth. The purpose is to clip the hair very short. In Fig.

l0, the teeth 28 of blade 26 is made thicker withthe result that hair cut with the blades shown in Fig. 10 will not be so short as it will be when cut with the blades shown in Fig. 9. As stated before, there are four different kinds of lower blades carried in stock by dealers to meet the varied requirements of the trade.

I have discovered that when the movable blade is operated at the speed common in hair clippers of the present character, the actual cutting is done very close to the tip of the teeth of that blade which is further to the rear. As the lower blade is made to project slightly beyond the upper blade to 1 protect the skin, this means that the actual cutting is done at the tips of the teeth of the upper blade.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, I make the ribs under the teeth of the lower blade convex as shown at 29. When the blades have'the relationship shown in Fig. 2, the length of hair remaining after clipping will be that distance which is between the tip of the tooth 30 and the nearest point on the convex rib 29. The real cut isl even shorter than that because, in practice, the convex surface sinks slightly into the skin under pressure. When the lower blade has been advanced to the position shown in'FigJ 3, the length of remaining hair will be the distance between tip 30 and the nearest point on the convex surface, less whatever amount that convex surface presses into the. skin.

In Fig. 9, the under surface of the teeth of the lower blade is concave, and in Fig. 10 the under surface is shown as straight. Making the under surface concave or straight for all gauges of under ,blades seems to have been the common practice of all manufacturers up to the present time. 1 V

Making the under surface convex, as"' I show it in Figs. l, 2 and 3, has several advantages in connection with an adjustment such as I provide. One advantage is that a very small adjustment of one blade with respect to the other makes considerable vari ation in the closeness of the clip. Another advantage is that convex ribs sink more readily into the surface being clipped, with the result that it is possible, by adjusting the angle of the clipper to the surface to be clipped, to make a closer clip than is possible with a concave .surface such as is shown in Fig. 9.

A third advantage arises from the fact that small differences of pressure will cause a convex surface to sink different distances into the surface being clipped. As a consequence of this last, a barber can vary the closeness of the clip by simply varying the pressure he applies, and without varying the adjustment of the blades. This particular result cannot be obtained to a material extent by a blade with a concave under side because such a form bears against a large area and pushes the Whole surface back without bringing the teeth of the upper blade nearer to the surface being clipped.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a case, a stationary blade', a movable blade mounted on the stationary blade, a spring secured to the back ofthe movable blade, and a driving lever furnishin a thrust on the back of said spring, sai spring and lever having a slipping connection with each other, and said lever acting thru said spring to locate the movable blade with respect to the stationary blade. I

2. In a device of the class described, a case for containing a power device, a stationary blade secured to the case, a movab'le blade mounted u on the stationary blade, a spring secure to the back of the movable blade, a driving lever furnishing a thrusting force on the spring and also embracing a portion of said spring so as to hold the movable blade at a predetermined relationship to the stationary blade, and brackets secured to said spring and serving to embrace the sides of the dri lever.

3. In a device of the class described, a case, a stationary blade secured to the case, a movable blade mounted on the stationary blade, a Z-shaped spring having one flange secured to the movable-blade, and a driving lever having a slipping connection with the other ange of said spring.

NILS NORSTROM. 

